MSata compatability and HD7970m drivers for Windows 8 x64

Hi to you all, I am a new member as I was hoping for any information I could get for two issues I have and thought this would be a great place to get some valuable input.

My system is a Clevo P170EM, Intel Core i7 3610qm, HD7970 2gb, 16gb Corsair Vengance 1866 Mhz Ram, Corsair Force GT 240GB ssd, Seagate Momentus XT 500gb Hybrid.

1) My Hdd setup is currently a Corsair Force Gt 240GB ssd and a Seagate Momentus XT 500GB hybrid drive. I am looking to expand by adding a Mushkin Atlas Msata 240GB ssd and was wondering if the Msata port would support this drive?

2) I am also lucky enough to have a pre-order for Windows 8 Pro 64 bit but cannot find any suitable driver/catalyst software for my graphics car, which is the Hd 7970. I was wondering if any one knows a workaround, or some usefull information about updates for the drivers?

I look forward to any replies soon.

Thanks

 

Hi Mattallenmsn, Congrats on your first post, and welcome to NBR!
If you add a mSATA you only want it for storage. The SSD you have now is SATA III and the mSATA is SATA II so it will actually slow you down. Its not a very cost effective way to add storage either.

Can't help with the driver but hopefully someone else here knows a good solution for you.

 

Hi Hutsady, thanks for the warm welcome and the information, just to clarify what you mean by 'storage', a msata ssd of high quality and spec would peak out at about 200-250mb/sec rather than around 70-100mb/sec for a standard Hdd 5400 rpm right? As I am thinking that it is still a faster alternative to adding a 1tb drive to the laptop as storage. Basically I only use the laptop for gaming and that extra speed would prove very useful for me

 

Yes the read speeds of the mSATA will be right around the 200-250MB/s you wont see that much though except for pulling up really big files or something like showing thumbnails if you have a folder full or .jpg files. If you planned on installing games or programs on the mSATA that would help with start times and map load times. It wont help while in the actual game/program Its not the most cost effective way to add space but if you're more concerned about speed then go for it.

 

hey buddy,im also running win8 pro x64 and ive installed the most current catalyst 12.9 beta 7900 mod driver with it. you can find it right here:

http://benchmark3d.com/amd-catalyst-12-9-beta-9-001-7900-mod

make sure that before installing the driver u restart win8 with advanced startup options and driver signature enforcement disabled! google it if u dont know how to do that, since its a bit hidden in the side menu of win8

cheers

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

Hi,

@ Hutsady, ty once again, it's great to get such good clear info, much better than some other forums I tried before

@ Jaybee83 Thats awesome, thanks very much, again really clear and useful advice, I really like this forum and its community.

 

Hmm, Tried to reinstall windows 8 this weekend and I still have a problem with the HD 7970m, I installed the driver linked above but when I view the HD7970m in the device manager, it shows with an exclamation mark and further investigation shows that it is Code 43: Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)

Anyone has a workaround for this or some advice please ?

 

hmmm have u tried manually updating the gpu driver through the device manager? (rightclick on device - update driver) also,maybe the igpu is preventing the 7970m from starting properly? what happens if u put load onto ur system? say,by starting msi kombustor for example?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

Hmm, well starting the MSI Kombustor only gives the option of the intel onboard graphics. When I tried the manual driver update, it says the best drivers for my device are installed.

When I open up CCC or right click, there is no longer the option for switchable graphics, how are you getting around this?